First post...

MissEyre

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking for a few months now and thought it was about time I said hello.

I've had credit card debt for a few years now, and consolidated a couple of years ago (stupid, stupid) - I guess you won't be surprised if I tell you that I built the debt back up almost straight away on the same cards, with nothing to show for it. Have finally seen the light, and cleared my two credit cards, cancelled one, and have another one safely frozen, with a massively reduced limit (my request) in case of genuine emergencies.

I now have a personal loan with £15600 left to pay, which will be cleared in four years, and my mortgage, and no other debts.

I have really learnt my lesson around credit (ie. I can't be trusted with it) and am now trying to adjust to living within my means-any tips on the best way for me to do this? Any other suggestions gratefully received-have used a lot of tips from the boards (you guys and the OS board have been great!) - maybe something that really helped you when you first got started?

Thanks, nice to meet you all at last!

angelflower_2

just getting started really but will let you know!

I would say just stay on here and plug away. Might still be worth posting SOA to see if we can help you make savings to throw extra to the loan?

Snaggles

Hi MissEyre! :wave:

Welcome to DFW, nice to 'meet' you!

If you've been reading the forums for a while, you probably already know about spending diaries - keeping one is a really good way of tracking your spending, and scaring you into spending less!!

As I always tell people, I didn't realise just how much I was spending on magazines a year (£200 - £300!!) until I started tracking where my money was going.

Also, joining in some of the challenges on here is a great way of making it seem more fun to cut back. I find I automatically stop to think about things before I buy them now, whereas before I would have just merrily handed my card over without thinking of the cost. And if I want a treat, I make sure I can afford it, or I find a way of making some extra money to pay for it (there are loads of ideas on here for bringing in a bit extra cash).

Good luck with it all!

MissEyre

Monthly income - £1568

Monthly outgoings -

Mortgage - £600

Mortgage insurance - £12.50

Council tax - £130

Water - £40 (meter being installed next week, at last)

HSA - £8.66 (I wear glasses, so this is worth it for me)

Boiler, central heating insurance - £17.00

Gas - £25.00

Electricity - £25.00

Cleaner - £48.00 (two hours once a fortnight)

House Emergencies fund - £60.00

Contents insurance - £9.90

Phone and broadband - £25.00

PAYG Mobile - £10

Food, toiletries, cleaning stuff, occasional trip to the pub - £200

Personal loan repayment - £288

Total - 1499.06

Leaving £68.94 remaining

I live alone, and do not receive any benefits. I have got rid of my car and get lifts to work, where I do extremely long hours. I know the cleaner is a luxury, but I don't have a TV, let alone Sky, so do you think I can justify keeping it?
Buildings insurance has been paid in full, and when future insurances come up, the money saved in the House Emergencies fund will pay them in full.

Any suggestions welcome!

MissEyre

Thanks Snaggles, I use Tesco vouchers for all my magazine subscriptions-have saved tons doing it that way!

Snaggles

If you can afford it, then it's not really a problem, but I'm just thinking if you live alone, is there really that much to clean? It's my hubby and the kids that make all the mess at my house!

Nothing on your list sounds excessive to me (although I'm not an expert), the shopping budget could probably be trimmed slightly, but again, it's not a huge amount to be spending.

How about doing little things to increase your income - selling bits and pieces on ebay, mystery shopping, using sites like Quidco to earn cashback on your purchases? Every little helps, as they say!

Can you make overpayments to your loan to clear it more quickly at all?

Tustastic

Hello MissEyre, well done for all the steps you've taken so far.
You need to add in your costs for haircuts, birthday/Xmas presents, shoes, clothes etc.
Keep the cleaner on if you want to - it's your money and your choice. You may feel differently however after entering the amount into The Demotivator Tool on the MSE home page.

Tustastic

Snaggles wrote: »

Can you make overpayments to your loan to clear it more quickly at all?

Good point from Snaggles. Also worth finding out what sum of money they would accept in full and final payment if applicable.
You could also find out whether your mortgage allows overpayments at any time. If you leave the mortgage repayment as it is, but make overpayments as and when you can, the mortgage debt will reduce quicker.

fc123

Hi ! your cleaner seems pricey..4 hrs per month @ £12 per hour??
I really missed having a cleaner but now love the £££ saved..it's not so bad to fit it in though floor mopping is the thing I really hate!

MissEyre

I take money for haircuts out of my £200 'housekeeping' (food etc) as I get it done at the local beauty college and it costs £5 every six weeks. I can't remember the last time I bought new clothes-quite casual for work, and I encourage hand me downs from family
Am looking into AQA to earn a bit extra as a sort of contingencies fund, so if I do ever buy new clothes/shoes, I have some money to spend..
I'm quite tidy, but find it quite hard work keeping on top of the really boring hoovering/ironing/scrubbing the floor stuff as am usually out of the house 14-15 hours a day, and it's just nice knowing that someone else will come in and fix it every now and then. Sorry, I know that sounds really feeble when there are people here who have families and three jobs, I just think I would miss the support if I cancelled the cleaner.

MissEyre

I can't make overpayments to the loan, so I will have a look at a final settlement figure tomorrow, just to see roughly what that looks like. I can overpay my mortgage without any penalties, so am due a payrise in February and thought I would allocate half of the 'new' money to mortgage overpayments and the other half to savings. What do you think?
The cleaner is £12 an hour-I wanted to get someone who was properly insured and registered for tax and NI, and she is great-I trust her to be in my home and have a spare key, and she picks up parcels, makes sure I have basic groceries in the house and waits in if the plumber is coming round!